Vikrant Massey reveals his family was targeted by cybercrime: 'Money was deducted from my wife’s account twice'

Vikrant Massey has revealed that he and his family have faced repeated cybercrime incidents. The actor said hackers targeted his social media accounts several times, while money was fraudulently withdrawn from his wife’s account twice.

He made the disclosure at the trailer launch of the upcoming JioHotstar series ‘Pritam And Pedro’, which explores cybercrime and its impact on people.

Vikrant Massey recalls cybercrime attacks on his family

Bollywood Hungama reported that Massey spoke about the incidents. Asked whether he had personally faced cybercrime, he said, “This has happened to me 3-4 times. My Instagram handle was hacked twice. My Facebook account was hacked once. Money has been fraudulently deducted from my wife’s account twice.”Massey also said his sister-in-law’s father was recently scammed. He then contacted cybersecurity expert Amit Dubey. “We all saw here that he’s a pro. So, he helped us out,” the actor said.Dubey attended the launch and demonstrated how easily scammers can access personal devices by hacking a journalist’s phone. The event took place at a five-star hotel in Mumbai.Arshad Warsi responded to Massey’s account with a joke. “Lekin maine toh ek hi baar kiya tha! (But I did it only once! ),” he said, drawing laughter.

‘Pritam And Pedro’ cast, story and release date

Massey said the series covers a subject that affects people directly and indirectly. “It’s based on cybercrime and hence, it’s a relevant topic. Directly or indirectly, we have been targeted by it,” he said. He added that the show combines entertainment with the human side of cybercrime.The actor plays Martin and described the character as an unconventional antagonist. He said Rajkumar Hirani’s stories give even antiheroes a purpose and avoid familiar stereotypes.Massey also called working with Hirani a major opportunity. He joked that he was tired of playing “gaav ka gareeb (a poor villager) or a boy-next-door” and wanted to attempt something different.Rajkumar Hirani, Warsi, Vir Hirani, Mona Singh, Shantanu Moitra, Swanand Kirkire, director Avinash Arun and Alok Jain attended the launch. Shreya Ghoshal made a special appearance and performed ‘Piya Piya Piya’.‘Pritam And Pedro’ will begin streaming on JioHotstar on July 3.